Canary in a Coal Mine…

Woke up this morning with the chorus ‘Canary in a Coal Mine’ by the Police running through my head. (That’s Sting’s old band, for you young’uns.) I couldn’t remember the verses. Just a continuous loop – canary in a coal mine, canary in a coal mine, canary in a coal mine.

I am familiar with the song, the expression, and the lore of coal miners using canaries to detect gas and carbon monoxide in caves and caverns before they stepped into them. But a quick search of the term and a perusal of the lyrics paints an interesting picture. Check it out…

Canary in a Coal Mine Lyrics, The Police

First to fall over when the atmosphere is less than perfect
Your sensibilities are shaken by the slightest defect
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line

You say you want to spend the winter in Firenza
You’re so afraid to catch a dose of influenza
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line

Canary in a coalmine

Now if I tell you that you suffer from delusions
You pay your analyst to reach the same conclusions
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line

Canary in a coalmine

Description of Canary in a Coal Mine (www.wisegeek.com)

Life for an actual canary in a coal mine could be described in three words – short but meaningful. Early coal mines did not feature ventilation systems, so miners would routinely bring a caged canary into new coal seams. Canaries are especially sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide, which made them ideal for detecting any dangerous gas build-ups.

Today, the practice of using a canary in a coal mine has become part of coalmining lore, but the ideology behind it has become a popular expression. The phrase living like a canary in a coal mine often refers to serving as a warning to others. The actual canary in a coal mine had little control over its fate, but it continued to sing anyway.

In another sense, many analysts use the term canary in a coal mine to describe a harbinger of the future. A melting glacier in Alaska, for example, may be described as a canary in a coal mine for global warming. One small event in an isolated area may not seem especially noteworthy, but it may offer the first tangible warning of a larger problem developing.

Rather than synthesize and draw conclusions, I thought I’d ask what you guys think…